| Fuel-cell apparatus -> Monitor Keywords |
|
|
  Fuel-cell apparatusRelated Patent Categories: Chemistry: Electrical Current Producing Apparatus, Product, And Process, Fuel Cell, Subcombination Thereof Or Methods Of Operating, Automatic Control MeansThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070072021. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to a fuel-cell apparatus for creating energy from hydrogen and oxygen, and, in particular, to a fuel-cell apparatus capable suitably mounted to a vehicle. [0002] Prototypes of fuel-cell vehicles which incorporate fuel-cells for running have been already fabricated, and Patent Literature 1 (JP-A No. 2002-70762) suggests a fuel-cell vehicle incorporating a scroll compressor as a device suitable for supplying compressed air to the fuel-cells in the fuel-cell vehicle. [0003] In fuel-cell apparatuses for use in fuel-cell vehicles, it has become a critical challenge to increase the efficiencies thereof, and there has also been a need for further increasing the efficiencies of the compressed-air supplying devices therein. [0004] However, with the scroll compressor described in the aforementioned Patent Literature 1, the electricity generated from the fuel-cells is partially utilized for driving the compressed-air supplying device and, further, compressed air is discharged after being supplied to the fuel-cell stack without being efficiently utilized, which causes the problem of lower efficiency of the entire fuel-cell apparatus. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a fuel-cell apparatus capable of efficiently utilizing compressed air after supplying it to a fuel-cell stack to improve the total efficiency. [0006] A fuel-cell apparatus according to the present invention is a fuel-cell apparatus including a fuel-cell stack and a fuel-cell compressed-air supplying device for compressing air and supplying the compressed air to the fuel-cell stack, wherein the compressed-air supplying device includes a compressor including an impeller provided on one side of a rotation shaft and a turbine provided on the other side of the rotation shaft of the compressor, compressed air is supplied to the fuel-cell stack through the rotation of the impeller, and exhaust air exhausted from the fuel-cell stack causes the turbine to rotate. [0007] The compressor is an electric turbo-type air compressor, wherein compressed air is supplied to the fuel-cell stack from the impeller of the compressor. Further, the exhaust air resulted from the reaction in the fuel-cell stack is supplied to the turbine and is used for rotating the rotation shaft of the compressor. [0008] Preferably, in an exhaust air flow channel for supplying the air exhausted from the fuel-cell stack to the turbine, a flow-rate control valve is provided for controlling the flow rate of the exhaust air supplied to the turbine according to a rotation state. In this case, when the vehicle runs normally (during high-speed rotation of the rotation shaft), it is preferable that the valve is fully opened to cause the exhaust air to be discharged from an exhaust port in the turbine housing after rotating the turbine. In a power-saving state such as when the vehicle reducing the speed, the valve is partially or fully closed to cause a portion or all of the exhaust air to be discharged outside through midway of the exhaust air flow channel. [0009] Preferably, a bearing device which supports the rotation shaft of the compressor includes a pair of radial foil bearings provided coaxially with the rotation shaft for supporting the rotation shaft in the radial direction, and a pair of axial foil bearings faced to the rotation shaft in the axial direction for supporting the rotation shaft in the axial direction. [0010] The radial foil bearings include a flexible bearing foil having a bearing surface facing to the rotation shaft in the radial direction, an elastic member for supporting the bearing foil, and a bearing housing for holding the bearing foil and the elastic member between the bearing housing and the rotation shaft. [0011] Further, the axial foil bearings include a flexible bearing foil having a bearing surface facing to the rotation shaft in the axial direction, an elastic member for supporting the bearing foil, and a bearing housing for holding the bearing foil and the elastic member between the bearing housing and the rotation shaft. The rotation shaft is provided with a flange portion which functions as a thrust plate, and the pair of axial foil bearings are faced to each other with the flange portion interposed therebetween. [0012] With the aforementioned foil bearings, during the rotation of the rotation shaft, ambient air is drawn into the gaps between the bearing foils and the rotation shaft to generate pressures (dynamic pressures), thereby holding the rotation shaft in a non-contact manner. Accordingly, the rotation shaft is supported in both the radial and axial directions by the foil bearings, which can suppress the reduction of the fatigue life of the bearings due to high-speed rotation and also can eliminate the necessity of providing the function of circulating lubricating oil, thereby enabling the reduction of the size of the compressed-air supplying device. [0013] With the fuel-cell apparatus according to the present invention, compressed air which has been utilized for power generation in the fuel-cell stack is efficiently utilized, after the reaction therein, for rotating the rotation shaft of the compressor, which can reduce the power consumption of the compressor to increase the efficiency of the fuel-cell apparatus and also can reduce the output capacity of the compressor, thereby enabling size reduction and cost reduction. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0014] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a fuel-cell apparatus employing a fuel-cell apparatus according to the present invention; [0015] FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view schematically illustrating the fuel-cell apparatus according to the present invention; [0016] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a radial foil bearing for use in a fuel-cell compressed-air supplying device according to the present invention; and [0017] FIG. 4 is views illustrating an axial foil bearing used in the fuel-cell compressed-air supplying device according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 4(a) is an enlarged longitudinal cross-sectional view and FIG. 4(b) is a cross-sectional view along a circumferential direction. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT [0018] There will be described an embodiment of the present invention, with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the right and the left in FIG. 2 will be designated as front and back. [0019] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a fuel-cell apparatus according to the present invention which is mounted to a vehicle. The fuel-cell apparatus (1) includes a fuel-cell stack (2), an electric-power control device (3) which controls the electric power supplied from the fuel-cell stack (2), a high-pressure hydrogen tank (4) and a hydrogen pump (5) which supply hydrogen to the fuel-cell stack (2), a compressed-air supplying device (6) which supplies compressed air to the fuel-cell stack (2), a humidifier (7) which humidifies the compressed air supplied from the compressed-air supplying device (6), and a cooling device (8) which cools the fuel-cell stack (2) and the electric-power control device (3), wherein a motor (9) for running the vehicle is driven by the electric energy provided from the fuel-cell stack (2). [0020] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the fuel-cell compressed-air supplying device (6) includes compressor (12) provided within a casing (11) and a bearing device (14) which supports a rotation shaft (13) of the compressor (12). Continue reading... Full patent description for Fuel-cell apparatus Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Fuel-cell apparatus patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Fuel-cell apparatus or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Fuel cell unit, information processing apparatus, and power supply control method for information processing apparatus Next Patent Application: Apparatus for controlling operations of fuel cell system and method thereof Industry Class: Chemistry: electrical current producing apparatus, product, and process ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Fuel-cell apparatus patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.12145 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Daimler Chrysler , DirecTV , Exxonmobil Chemical Company , Goodyear , Intel , Kyocera Wireless , |
||
